Behind Sudan's Spiral Back to War

Fueling war A Sudanese soldier lies dead in a pool of oil in the disputed town of Heglig

On a wide plain of cracked earth and yellow grass deep in Sudan's Nuba Mountains, rebel commander Brigadier General Namiri Murrad raises a pair of binoculars and studies his objective, the government-held town of Talodi, some 4 km away. "They have three tanks, you see?" he says, passing over the field glasses. "They had six, but we destroyed three. They also have .50-cals. and 12.5s [heavy machine guns] in the hills above. But I have 3,000 men and two more brigades of 2,000 to 3,000, and they have just 1,700 to 1,800. We'll finish this quickly." He regards the dust cloud...